Shock and jubilation at death of Gaddafi

Libya's new transitional government has confirmed that the former dictator Colonel Muamar Gaddafi has been killed in the final gunfight for the city of Sirte. There was was confusion and disbelief at the reports, until photos of Gaddafi's blood-soaked body were posted on the internet. Now, Libyans are celebrating both the end of a war - and the end of four decades of his regime.

Transcript

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TONY EASTLEY: Libya's dictator, Moamar Gaddafi is dead, his hometown of Sirte has fallen and NATO allies are congratulating themselves on a successful campaign.

Now the pressure is on for Libya's transitional government to bring the country back to normal, disarm the fighters and get the economy back on track.

Reports from Libya say Colonel Gaddafi was killed in the final gunfight for loyalist bastion of Sirte.

For hours there was confusion over whether he'd been wounded and captured alive or whether he was dead. Photos eventually surfaced of Gaddafi's blood-soaked body. He is the first Arab leader to die in uprisings dubbed the Arab Spring.

Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.

(Sounds of a crowd celebrating)

ANNE BARKER: The streets of Sirte, indeed much of Libya it seems, erupted in wild joy at the news first that Moamar Gaddafi was captured and seriously wounded and then the reports he was in fact dead.

(Sounds of a crowd celebrating)

"We are happy, we are happy," says this man. "We are done with him. We are done with his oppression. We have been waiting for this moment for years and now we are at peace because he is gone."

News of the death still took many by surprise especially given few fighters in Sirte even knew Moamar Gaddafi was there. Only a few hours earlier Libyan fighters had declared victory over the city that was his home town.

(Sound of gunfire)

In fact, it was during the final gunfight the former dictator was found.

One report said he'd been hiding in a hole in the ground, and as Libyan fighters closed in, he'd shouted "don't shoot, don't shoot".

A Libyan fighter showed reporters a cement drainpipe where he was shot.

An amateur video later handed to the Reuters news agency showed the Libyan fighters closing in - then Gaddafi wounded and bloodied, but still alive.

He was taken by ambulance to Misurata but his death was later announced on Libyan television.

It was Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, the vice chair of Libya's National Transitional Council, who eventually confirmed the death at a news conference.

ABDEL HAFIZ GHOGA (translated): We will announce to the world, we announce to the world that Moamar Gaddafi has been killed on the hands of the revolutionaries.

ANNE BARKER: Colonel Gaddafi's body has been laid out in a mosque in Misurata.

One of his sons, Mutassim, was also killed. Another son, Saif al-Islam, was reportedly trying to flee Sirte as Libyan fighters gave chase.

Around the country and the Arab world, the news is still sinking in.

VOX POP (translated): With this news we have brought about a great achievement - freeing every inch of our country. We all now face the challenge of building new Libya.

VOX POP 2 (translated): I say congratulations to Libya, to the Arab and Islamic world. Congratulations to the whole world.

ANNE BARKER: Moamar Gaddafi's death brings the end of a war and the end of a brutal regime that lasted more than four decades and Libyans are now hoping for a new era of democracy, justice and reconciliation.